


The Lullaby of Lost Children

by GRiDGALAXY



Series: The Lullaby of Lost Children [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Mystery, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-10-30 02:36:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 11,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20807114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GRiDGALAXY/pseuds/GRiDGALAXY
Summary: "Jin picked the disk up, making as little noise as possible to avoid interrupting the song. He made his way back to his bed and gently set himself down on it. He crawled to the center of his bed, and curled up with the duel disk held close to his chest. As the soft lullaby soothed his heart, the light of the duel disk’s display became brighter. Jin closed his eyes as the light enveloped him, with a small and carefree smile on his face."Various people who were involved in the Lost Incident start acting strange and so do their duel disks, especially when they're about to go to sleep.





	1. A mysterious melody

**Author's Note:**

> This work takes place _ a tiny bit_ after the 3 month time skip in the last episode. Yusaku has still contacted nobody and is searching for Ai in the network, Specter and Ryoken are living on the new Hanoi boat with the three knights, Takeru is living in his hometown again and the Kusanagi brothers are running the hotdog stand together.

When Jin saw the duel disk in the corner of his room start glowing faintly, he felt himself skip a breath as he shielded himself with his duvet. He felt a deep sinking feeling in his chest at the sight of it. However, he didn’t understand why he was so frightened. It was probably just a notification or something appearing on his disk for a brief moment, so why? Why did he feel this way? Did it have something to do with what the memories that his brother and the hospital had told him he had lost?

Jin drew a shaky breath, his hands twitching as he gripped tightly onto his covers. The disk sat there on a dresser in a corner of the room, the dim glow showing no signs of ceasing. Jin felt his breathing speed up a little. Was the light getting brighter? Or was it his imagination? He did not know, and he quite frankly didn’t want to find out.

Jin understood that any reasonable person in that situation would have gotten up, walked over to the device and shut it off right there and then, or at least would have called out to somebody to do it for them, but Jin couldn’t bring himself to do it. The idea of simply moving made his stomach lurch. The idea of shouting out to Shoichi made Jin feel unreasonably uneasy.

He sat like that for ages, holding eye contact with the disk as if it would move if he didn’t monitor it constantly. He shivered, and hoped that Shoichi might walk into his room by chance and see him in this state, and take the disk away. Would it happen? Probably not, Jin had decided, but there was always a chance. A hope. And he would cling onto it for as long as that duel disk leaked light.

And at some ungodly hour, while Jin was watching the duel disk like a frightened hawk, the disk started making a noise. At first, this made Jin panic, as he fell to his pillow as he tugged his duvet over his head, hiding himself from the disk completely. The sudden beginning of the noise had startled Jin despite being quite quiet. From the safety of under the covers, Jin did happen to get a better listen to the noise.

At first, the noise was a bit too quiet for Jin to figure out what it was supposed to be, but it seemed to slowly rise in volume. Because of this, Jin started to hear it more clearly. What the noise was didn’t scare Jin anymore, but instead confused him. It was a soft, melodic humming noise, like a children’s lullaby without any words.

Jin found he melody to be strange and a bit creepy at first, but as he found himself completely transfixed on how gentle the song sounded, he started appreciating it. It was a nice and relaxing, just the sort of thing he needed after a scare like the duel disk turning on by itself (If one could even call that scary, though).

The rhythm changed a little bit as Jin lay there, listening to the lullaby. Jin kept on listening to it, letting each repetition of the song gradually erase the fear he had held onto for hours. Jin, now almost completely without fear, pushed the covers back and sat up, looking at the disk. The dim, purple light was still there, but Jin didn’t feel threatened by it anymore. He didn't mind the light now, actually. He didn’t feel scared of anything while listening to the lullaby, just relaxed and at ease.

The song made him feel one more thing than just at peace. It felt like the song was drawing him in, telling him to come over to the duel disk where the song played. After a few more repetitions of the melody, Jin took it upon himself to slip his legs off the side of his bed, and let his toes touch the floor. With a calm smile, Jin stood up and tip-toed carefully over to the disk.

He reached out to device with a steady hand and let his fingertips press softly against the cool, glass display. Nothing about the disk was even remotely fear-inducing for Jin anymore. All he wanted was to be close to the source of the lullaby.

Jin picked the disk up, making as little noise as possible to avoid interrupting the song. He made his way back to his bed and gently set himself down on it. He crawled to the center of his bed, and curled up with the duel disk held close to his chest. As the soft lullaby soothed his heart, the light of the duel disk’s display became brighter. Jin closed his eyes as the light enveloped him, with a small and carefree smile on his face.


	2. A refreshing day

“Jin, you seem extra happy today!” A regular at Cafe Nagi commented with a chuckle, “Did somebody give you a love letter or something?” She added, flashing him a look of curiosity.  
Jin couldn’t help but laugh lightheartedly in response, “No, that hasn’t happened at all. Nobody knows me well enough to give me a love letter anyway.”  
“Then what has you so upbeat?” She asked, taking a sip of her coffee.  
“I had just had a really good night’s sleep is all.” Jin answered with a smile.  
“Really, that’s all?” She giggled, “You really know how to appreciate the small things in life.”

Shoichi watched from the window of his food truck, poking some of the sausages on his grill with a shiny new set of tongs. He held an expression of happiness, glad that his brother was finding social interaction so easy after years of being stuck in a hospital and struggling to even let a syllable escape his lips. Shoichi had quickly found that his brother was very fast at learning things and picking up on social graces, which he was grateful since it would make Jin’s life easier than it could have been if he wasn’t so good at it. The fact it meant that it meant that he wouldn’t have to sacrifice lots of time teaching his brother basic yet fundamental things was a mere afterthought.

Shoichi did wonder though why Jin was unusually happy upon this occasion. Jin wasn’t even smiling this much after his got his first full night’s sleep in years. Shoichi was very glad that his brother was feeling great, but he couldn’t ignore the feeling in his gut that was screaming that something wasn’t right. As he stood there, watching Jin interact with customers cheerily, Shoichi found himself biting his lip stressfully. Jin’s demeanor today wasn’t the only thing on his mind.

Last night, he had heard a strange sound coming from Jin’s room. It was faint, and Shoichi wasn’t sure if he was making it up or not, but it sounded kind of like music. Shoichi did consider investigating the sound, but he decided not to. Staying up to listen to music, watch videos and play games was a normal part of the life of anybody Jin’s age. To Shoichi, Jin sneaking some music before bed was a positive thing, as it indicated progress towards Jin living a normal life. Shoichi didn’t want to stunt healthy progress by interfering.

“I think you’re burning that hotdog…” A female voice spoke, snapping Shoichi from his thoughts. He quickly looked over to the source of the voice to see a girl with short brown hair staring at his grill with concern.  
“Ah, almost, but not quite.” Shoichi stuttered, turning the sausages over, “Thanks for bringing me back to reality, Aoi. I almost did burn those sausages.”  
“I’m no chef, but I don’t think you really should stare into space while cooking.” She laughed.  
Shoichi nodded in agreement, “What brings you here today?”  
“I’m just getting lunch for Miyu and I. Could I have two hotdogs, please?”

“Coming right up.” Shoichi said, taking his eyes off the grill to grab some hotdog buns.  
As he cut a slit longways across each bun, Aoi watched closely. Shoichi did find it a strange thing to be paying so much attention to, but he understood how awkward it could be waiting for somebody to prepare your food without knowing where to look. He resolved to start their conversation again to make things less awkward.

“So, how is Miyu doing these days?” He asked.  
“She’s been doing great these past few months. We’ve been hanging out heaps, and we’ve been having sleepovers at each other’s houses.” Aoi clutched her hands together, “I’m glad that she’s doing okay, and I’m really happy that we get along just as well as we did all those years ago.”  
“That’s great.” Shoichi smiled, turning the sausages again.

Shoichi finally finished the sausages, and put them in the buns, added some sauce, wrapped them up and put them in a bag for Aoi to take.  
“I’m only grabbing take out to take back to my place so Miyu and I can eat together, but next time I’ll be sure to bring her down here.” Aoi said, taking the bag, “Hopefully you get a lot of business for the rest of today.”  
“Thank you, have a nice day!”


	3. Strange music of the night before

“What’s that music that you’ve been listening to, Specter?” Genome asked, sipping his soda.  
“Music? What music?” Specter asked, looking up at the doctor from the bonsai he was trimming.  
“You know, that strange tune that you were listening to last night?” He prompted, typing away at his keyboard with his eyes glued to the monitor of his computer. Not once during this exchange so far had he looked up from his screen, and it did not seem like he intended to at any point.  
“I haven’t been listening to music at all.” Specter shrugged, “Maybe it was one of the other knights?”

“I heard it too.” Aso interjected, “It was coming from somewhere around your room.”  
“Then maybe it was Ryoken-sama?” Specter suggested, clipping some leaves from the miniature tree with care, “I mean, his room is right next to mine.”  
“Oh please.” Kyoko chuckled, “Ryoken listening to music? That’s not like him at all.”  
“I always pictured him listening to something like orchestra music if he were to ever get into listening to music.” Aso shrugged, “Not whatever that was that I heard last night.”  
“I’ve only ever heard him listening to music once, and that was last night.” Genome mentioned, “I’m a little surprised that this has only started now.”  
“I haven’t heard it at all.” Specter added, raising an eyebrow.  
“I’ve only heard it once.” Taki said, halting her typing and looking over at Aso to see if he would add anything.  
“I have also only heard it one time.” He said, taking a sip of his tea.

“Although, us three knights often stay up later that you, Specter. Maybe you were asleep when it happened?” Kyoko suggested.  
“Probably.” Specter nodded in agreement.  
“Do you think we’ll hear it again tonight?” Aso asked, putting his mug down.  
“There’s only one way to find out.” Genome nodded, eyes still on his monitor.

It wasn’t much later that Ryoken walked in on his knights laughing about thinking that Ryoken would of had a more ‘pretentious’ taste in music than what they heard last night. Upon seeing their leader, they all fell quiet.  
“Music? What are you on about?” He asked, walking over to the mini fridge in the corner of the room and taking a chilled bottle of water out of it.  
“We heard you listening to music last night.” Kyoko explained casually, beginning to type on her computer again, “With the exception of Specter.”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” He commented, twisting the cap off of the bottle, “How late did you guys stay up last night? How much coffee have you been drinking? Clearly too much.” He shook his head, “You should be trying to get proper amounts of sleep like Specter and I. We’re the only ones who put effort into having a healthy sleep schedule.”

Amongst the knights there were mumbles of disagreement. After all, Kyoko was the only one out of the three of them that drank coffee on a regular basis. Aso was more of a tea person, and Genome often claimed that the sugar in soft drinks were more suitable for staying up than the caffeine in coffee. None of them liked sleeping early at all.  
“Are you suggesting that we’re hearing things?” Kyoko finally asked.  
“Well either a ghost is playing music or Specter is the only sane one out of all of you.” Ryoken laughed, “Take your pick.”

“I hardly think any of us have lost any sanity.” Aso shook his head.  
“And ghosts aren’t real.” Genome added.  
Ryoken sighed, “I mean, this whole ‘phantom music’ thing aside, have you guys been getting enough sleep? You’ve been staying up really late and getting up really early.”  
“It’s enough.” Genome answered quickly, taking another sip of his soda.  
“Somebody is in denial of their bad habits.” Specter chuckled.  
“Search algorithms aren’t going to program themselves while I’m asleep.”  
“I honestly felt the same way.” Ryoken took a sip of his water, screwed the cap back on, then crossed his arms, “But Specter talking me into sleeping at a reasonable hour has actually really helped me. You’ve got to take care of yourselves.”

“What do you mean?” Taki asked, looking over at her leader with skepticism in her eyes, “You said that getting extra sleep hasn’t been doing much for you a few nights ago."  
“I did?” Ryoken shrugged, “I mean, maybe that was just a bad night. I had a _**really good**_ night’s sleep last night.”


	4. A surprisingly conclusive investigation

Specter, despite believing Ryoken, was awfully curious as to what the knights might have heard. Surely there was an explanation if all three of them heard the same thing? Despite Specter valuing his sleep very much, he decided that he would sacrifice his sleep this one night to satisfy his burning curiousity

And surely enough, when the sun went down and the stars appeared in the sky, Specter was sitting on his bed, waiting to see if something would happen. There was a strange burning feeling in his chest, a feeling of great and strong anticipation for something that might not even occur.

He did various things to pass the time as he waited. He looked out the window to see if he could see any constellations of stars reflected in the calm ocean waters. Sometimes he would watch his digital clock, and would try to catch the exact moment the minute changed without blinking. Sometimes he would get up and pace back and forth by his door, and every now and again he would put his ear up against the wall between his room and Ryoken’s room, wondering when something might happen.

When midnight hit, Specter was starting to feel tense and fidgety. Was it worth losing precious sleep over something that might not even happen? As somebody who really valued every second of sleep they can get, this was a very frustrating thing for Specter to do. Seeing the minute flick by on his clock made him agitated. That was a minute where he could have been sleeping! A minute wasted!

Specter didn’t like the ambiguity of the timeframe the knights had given for the music playing. Simply knowing it would occur at some point at night wasn’t enough for Specter. He wanted to know when so that he could know when he was going to be able to sleep. To combat this, Specter decided that he would go to bed at 2am, regardless of whether anything actually occurred or not.

And while Specter was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at the fake, leafy plant in the corner of his room, wondering what hexadecimal code the green of the plant might be out of his own boredom, something did happen.

A soft, gentle tone, followed by another, and another, began to play. Tones turned into melodies and the quiet song slowly increased in volume. Specter couldn’t believe his ears. There really was music! It was a sweet, lullaby sounding tune that put Specter’s mind at ease. Specter would have praised Ryoken’s taste in music right then and there, but there was one thing stopping him.

The music wasn’t coming from Ryoken’s room. It was coming from somewhere in his own room. More specifically, the duel disk that sat upon the dressing table beside his bed, just within reach. Specter looked over at it wondering why on earth his duel disk was playing a lullaby.

The display was lit up dimly in a shade of purple, but nothing else except that and the music was particularly odd about the device. Specter soon found himself not really caring about how strange this occurrence was though, as he listened to the soothing melody being played by his disk. The stress in his mind from lack of sleep and the agitation of seeing minutes pass slowly drained from Specter’s mind as he listened carefully to the peaceful song.

Before long, he found himself leaning towards the disk, as if to be closer to the song. He didn’t really mind when he fell sideways onto his pillow, with his eyes staring directly at the device. With a steady, slow movement, Specter picked up his arm and reached for the disk, grabbed it up and cuddled it close to his chest. Something about having the music right here, in his arms, was relaxing and reassuring. Specter felt that everything would be okay.

As the lullaby filled his mind, the words ‘INTO THE VRAINS’ appeared on the display of his duel disk. Specter closed his eyes, and let the purple light grow stronger until it had swallowed him.


	5. Resting while friends are over

“Takeru, what was that?” Kiku whispered, opening the door to his room and peeking in, “I heard a strange sound…”  
Takeru was lying on his bed, curled up in the middle of his bed, clutching his duel his tightly. He was breathing lightly, and his eyes were shut.  
“You’re… awake, right?” She whispered, watching him carefully, “You know, it isn’t funny to prank me like this.” She added for good measure.  
He didn’t respond.

“Kiku, dear, what seems to be the matter?” Takeru’s grandmother asked, shuffling down the hallway towards Kiku, her hands holding each other behind her back.  
“I heard a noise coming from Takeru’s room and… well, I got a bit worried and…” She stuttered, “It was like… music, I think.”  
“That’s strange, he doesn’t usually listen to music.” His grandmother tilted her head, “It’s probably fine. He’s been trying a lot of new things these days.”  
“That’s good to hear. I’m glad that he’s finally got motivation. To think that only last year he didn’t see the point of doing anything… It’s good to see that he’s improved.”

“I’m glad to hear that you’re just as proud of him as we are.” She smiled, “I have made a bed on the couch for you, if you’d like to go to sleep now. I think me and my husband will be going to sleep soon, too.”  
“Thank you.” Kiku slid Takeru’s door closed, then bowed, “I’m grateful that you’re letting me stay over the night since there is a storm outside.”  
“We’re happy to have you stay over any time, Kiku. We’re thankful that you’ve looked out for Takeru all these years.”


	6. A strange sleepover

Akira may have gotten home from work late, but that didn’t stop him from keeping an eye on his young sister and her friend over the cameras installed in the living room of their apartment while he was at work. Aoi and Miyu had been taking turns staying the night at each other’s houses, and this week it was Miyu’s turn to stay at the Zaizens’ place. Both of the girls had spent the day duelling the old fashioned way (by placing cards on a table), and talking about all of the years that they couldn’t spend together. Seeing his sister socialising so freely and without worry made Akira feel happy for her.

When he did get home, they were still talking endlessly and playing games, having the time of their lives. He almost felt bad for interrupting it by coming home and having the housework droids serve dinner, but he knew they’d keep at it as soon as dinner was finished. That was simply the nature of their bond.

And when it was time to sleep, Akira decided to stay up and do a bit of work on a spreadsheet that he had left over from work that day. He had sent the girls off to bed while he booted up his laptop, and they went off without a fuss.

As he worked on his spreadsheet in complete silence, save a few car noises from the street below, Aoi and Miyu were sitting on the floor in Aoi’s room, shoulder to shoulder, comparing their duel disks.  
“This might be a stupid question…” Miyu began, “But I really don’t know much about this sort of thing. Why does your duel disk look different to mine?” She asked, running her finger along the sleek edge of Aoi’s duel disk screen.  
“Yours takes physical cards, while mine uses digital cards.” Aoi explained, pointing to the deck slot on Miyu’s disk, “My one is the latest model, although I have to admit I do miss my old disk and having tangible cards.”

“That’s so cool! You can get digital cards?” Miyu exclaimed, poking at the clunky design of her own disk.  
“You can convert physical cards into digital ones, or buy them on the Vrains store.” Aoi explained, “If you want, I can get my brother to get you a new duel disk.” She offered.  
“Really?” Miyu clapped her hands together in excitement.  
“Of course!” Aoi said, “We could even get matching duel disks if you want!” She added.  
“That’d be so cool!” Miyu hugged Aoi suddenly, causing Aoi to almost fall over sideways, “Thank you!”

Their conversation was cut short when suddenly, both of the displays on their duel disks turned on, both glowing a dim purple.  
“Um…” Miyu muttered in confusion, “Did I accidentally press something I shouldn’t have?”  
“I don’t know…?” Aoi said with equal confusion, “I don’t know what they’re doing.”

Both of the girls stared at the devices with puzzlement, wondering what exactly was happening.  
“Can you… hear something?” Miyu asked, looking over at Aoi with a worried expression.  
“I think I can… It’s really quiet and it’s coming from the disks…”  
“Did they really just break at the same time?!” Miyu exclaimed.  
“Uh… I mean, it’s really unlikely, but maybe.” Aoi answered, shaking her disk to see if that would do something.

Miyu and Aoi both listened to the strange noise with confusion, noticing that it was becoming louder and louder. As it did, they finally figured out what the noise was.

It was a song.

Miyu and Aoi didn’t know what to do. Their duel disks were playing up by turning on when they shouldn’t, and now they were both playing music. And not to mention that the music was being played in sync.  
“What sort of music is this?” Aoi asked in a low voice, “It’s like a… lullaby…”  
“Mmm…” Miyu agreed, holding her disk close, “It’s kind of pleasant, don’t you think?”  
“Yeah.” Aoi nodded her head, “It’s nice and calming…”

Both of the girls fell silent as they listened to the mesmerising tune, paying close attention to the way it sounded. Miyu found herself leaning on Aoi, and her eyelids sliding shut as she listened to the enchanting melody, relaxing as she held her duel disk up to her chest. Aoi acted similarly, supporting Miyu by leaning against her too. She felt her eyes close as waves of relaxation washed over her mind. She felt the urge to hold her duel disk close, like the lullaby was something precious to her that must be protected.

The purple light grew stronger, and cover the girls wholly, logging them into Vrains as they rested against each other.


	7. The knowing smiles

“Here for lunch again, Aoi? I didn’t expect you to come so soon.” Shoichi chuckled.  
“I brought Miyu, as I promised.” Aoi smiled, approaching the van window. A girl with long hair, the same age as Aoi, approached the window by her side.  
“Nice to meet you, Miyu. I’m Shoichi Kusanagi.” He introduced himself, waving his tongs as is waving hello with his hand.  
“Nice to meet you too. I’m Miyu Sugisaki. Aoi has told me a lot about you.” Miyu bowed, “Thank you so much for helping to defeat Lightning. I’m in your debt.”

“It’s okay, you don’t owe me anything.” Shoichi said, “I didn’t do much. Most of the work was done by my friend, Yusaku.”  
Miyu let on a knowing smile, “Please, relay my thanks to him if you see him. Although, I’m sure he’ll already know…”  
Shoichi stared at Miyu, wondering what that last sentence meant. After a few awkward seconds with no explanation, Shoichi shrugged it off and replied, “I’ll make sure to.”

“So, could we please get a hotdog and coffee each for lunch?” Aoi asked, “And I think Miyu and I agreed to not do take away today.”  
“Of course, I’ll get started right away. Take a seat wherever you like.” Shoichi gestured to the free table and chairs at the front of the van. Aoi nodded and took a seat with Miyu.

As Shoichi prepared the food for the girls, he watched his brother finish a conversation with the other table of customers. Knowing Jin, Shoichi figured that he would move onto the other table to start another conversation. Shoichi watched with interest to see what the interaction between his brother and the girls would look like.

Jin, as expected, walked over to the girls’ table and gave them a smile. A knowing smile. They both returned a smile in the same style. Shoichi couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. Jin was acting like he already knew both of the girls very well, and they were acting the same. Jin hadn’t really talked with Aoi before, and neither him or Shoichi had met Miyu before.

Jin then proceeded to sit down at the table with them, something he had never done with any other customer. Shoichi couldn’t help but seriously wonder what was going on here.  
“Jin, do you already know Miyu?” Shoichi asked, probing for answers.  
“I guess you could say that.” He said, turning his head to face his brother with a big, bright smile on his face.  
“Where from?” Shoichi couldn’t help but ask.  
“Don’t worry about it.” He replied, still smiling that knowing smile. Shoichi nodded awkwardly, not sure how to respond to his brother’s strange answer. His brother turned back to the girls and started talking again.


	8. The secret of the lullaby

“Ryoken-sama?” Specter opened his eyes and rubbed them, waking up and drinking in the silhouette in front of his window. The figure was backlit by the late morning sun, and looking directly at him.  
“How was it?” Ryoken asked, taking a step towards the bed.  
“That was… amazing.” Specter said, a smile growing on his face, “I feel really well rested.”  
“Now we’re just going to have to cover for that lullaby if the other knights bring it up again.” Ryoken chuckled, “This is our secret. Just as _**he**_ said.”

“But of course. We’ll come up with a story to tell the knights.” Specter sat up, “And all we have to do to go there is log in every night?”  
“So it seems.” Ryoken nodded, “That’s what I did tonight. The lullaby is just his way of getting us to join him and everyone else in the first place.”

“I guess we wouldn’t have understood what he wanted if he had simply asked us to join him.” Specter shook his head, “It’s probably better this way.”  
“Indeed.” Ryoken agreed, “How about we go and say good morning to the knights?”  
“Yes, let’s go.” Specter stood up from his bed, “I could use some breakfast too.”  
“Same here.” Ryoken crossed his arms and chuckled briefly.


	9. Where their comrades went

“Was it just me, or did Ryoken and Specter seem unusually cheerful today?” Kyoko asked, “I mean, it’s not a bad thing, it’s just a bit uncharacteristic of the two to be smiling so much.”  
“Ryoken especially. Generally he’s expressionless or scowling.” Aso added with a sigh, “Usually when he does smile, it’s a smirk, but there was something very relaxed about his smile today.”  
“And Specter was beaming, non-stop.” Kyoko mentioned, “And it wasn’t remotely creepy like his smile usually is…”

“Keep your voices down, you two.” Genome hissed, “They’re going to hear you if you talk so loudly.”  
“We aren’t talking about them in a bad way, we’re just listing observations. I hardly think they’ll care.” Aso shrugged.  
“But they are trying to get to sleep, you know.” Genome replied, taking a moment to stretch out his fingers before resuming his typing, “We ought not to disturb them.”

“Speaking of sleep…” Kyoko began, “Last night, did you hear anything?”  
Aso and Genome both nodded, but only Genome spoke up, “It was coming from Specter’s room. I put my ear up to both Specter’s and Ryoken’s doors last night when I heard the noise, and it was definitely louder in Specter’s room.”  
“So all along it was Specter trying to cover up that he was listening to strange music.” Aso laughed, “Honestly, that lullaby is something I could imagine him listening to.”

“I wish I could just leave it at, though.” Genome said in a grave tone as he stopped typing. Kyoko and Aso looked over at their fellow knight in concern, wondering what was so serious that it would warrant Genome stopping his work for more than three seconds.  
“What do you mean?” Kyoko asked.  
“There was a light coming from Specter’s room.” Genome crossed his arms, “It was like… a purple flash of light. Immediately after it happened, the lullaby stopped.”

“That’s really weird.” Kyoko put her hand to her chin thoughtfully, “I wonder what he was up to last night?”  
“I’m not sure…” Aso shrugged, “Although, should we be worried?”  
“This weird song and that strange flash of light have coincided with Specter and Ryoken’s strange behaviour. I would say it is worth a bit of investigation at the very least.” Genome concluded.  
“So what do you suggest we do?” Aso asked.  
“I think we should check in on them if we hear the noise or see the light again.”

Later that night, on a trip to the toilet before getting back to work, Kyoko tiptoed past Ryoken and Specter’s bedrooms, making sure not to make enough noise to wake them up. There was no flash of light, and there was no music, but Kyoko couldn’t help but stop in front of the doors and look at them, wondering what might be happening on the other side.

Kyoko was a respectful woman who made sure not to invade other people’s privacy, but on this one occasion Kyoko felt the overwhelming urge to peek into the rooms and see exactly what might be happening. Maybe she would see something that answered her questions if she looked into their rooms? Perhaps she would finally understand what has been occurring?

Kyoko approached the doors cautiously, holding her breath. As she reached out for the handle to Specter’s door, she fought back the urge to walk away. She simply had to have her curiousity satisfied. She had to know what was happening.

As she turned the handle and opened the door, Kyoko took a small peek in the room. Specter was lying on his bed, with his duel disk strapped to his wrist. This struck Kyoko as especially strange, considering he often didn’t wear the device and he had no reason to be sleeping with it on. After seeing how Kyoko’s virus could force somebody to login to Vrains, she found it alarming how Specter could even think that wearing the device while sleeping could even be close to a good idea.

Upon further inspection, Kyoko noted that a small yellow light was flashing very dimly on the side of the disk. It was a light that was nothing like Genome had described, however it was a light that Kyoko recognised. It was a light that signified that the wearer of the duel disk was currently logged into the network.

After all of Specter’s constant preaching about how getting lots of sleep is important, and not letting things like work, games and books get you distracted from sleeping is vital, Kyoko felt a massive stab of confusion. Being logged into the network was just as tiring as being awake, and maybe even more so at times. Specter was awake in the network right now, not sleeping, and this alarmed Kyoko. Specter was up to something.

Carefully, Kyoko closed Specter’s door, deciding that she would have to tell the other knights about this as soon as she got back to work. However, she couldn’t help but be worried about Ryoken too, so she moved over to his door and opened it a tad.

Ryoken was also sleeping with his duel disk on, much to Kyoko’s disbelief. Even more worrying was the fact that he was evidently logged in to Vrains too. Although hiding things like this was characteristic of Specter, Ryoken was an honest boy who barely even lied to his enemies. Kyoko was incredibly surprised and equally concerned that Ryoken was hiding something from his knights.

Kyoko shut Ryoken’s door, not taking any care to be quiet anymore, and made her way back to the main room of the boat. Her careless entrance into the room caught the attention of her fellow knights.

“Something wrong, Kyoko?” Aso asked.  
“Ryoken and Specter aren’t asleep. They’re logged into Vrains.” Kyoko answered anxiously.  
“They’re in the network right now?” Aso felt himself become just as worried as Kyoko.  
“So they’ve been secretly logging into the network at night, not getting extra sleep?” Genome raised an eyebrow, stopping his work once again much to the other knights’ disbelief.  
“By the looks of it.” Kyoko let out a shaky sigh.  
“I find that strange. If they’re logged in, there’s no way they’d wake up as full of energy as they have been.” Genome pointed out.

“If you don’t believe me, go and look for yourself!” Kyoko snapped.  
“I do believe you.” Genome nodded, “It’s just… this is becoming stranger and stranger. We need to investigate this.”  
“Agreed.” Aso nodded too.  
“What we can do right now is see if we can trace where they are in the network.” Genome explained, “And ask them about this in the morning.”  
“Roger that.” Kyoko said, sitting down in front of her computer.

All three of them immediately got to work, typing hard and fast to figure out what their comrades were up to. It was a lot of work, and they tried many things over the course of the night. However, nothing seemed to get them anywhere. The location of their leader and his right hand man was a complete mystery to the knights. After a long and slow night of hard work, and nothing to show for it, the sun came up and the knights still hadn’t gone to bed.

Ryoken and Specter did come into the room when morning arrived, and all three of the knights grumbled at their presence.  
“What’s got you down?” Ryoken asked, heading straight for the mini fridge for a bottle of water.  
“We stayed up all night.” Kyoko responded in a grumpy mumble, yawning.  
“Why would you do that?” Specter asked looking over Aso’s shoulder and at his monitor.  
“We were trying to figure out where you were.” Kyoko answered.

Ryoken and Specter both paused after hearing this.  
“Where we were? We were in our rooms.” Ryoken stated flatly.  
“No. In the network.” Genome chimed in.  
“The network…?” Ryoken chuckled with a smirk, “Ah, you saw that we were in the network, somehow? Did you go into our rooms to figure that out, by any chance?” He asked accusingly.  
“I did, and I’m sorry for that. I can accept punishment for that later, but right now we want answers.” Kyoko bowed her head, “We were worried about you two. You’ve been acting out of character and we couldn’t find you in the network at all last night.”

“Where we were doesn’t matter.” Specter said, crossing his arms in disapproval, “It isn’t your business.”  
“But-” Kyoko began.  
“You are not to investigate what we were doing in the network. Understood?” Ryoken ordered.  
“Right.” Kyoko answered.  
“That goes for all of you. It isn’t anything to be concerned about.” Ryoken added. The other knights nodded, frowning.


	10. An overdue apology

“Takeru, what were you doing when I was over the other night?” Kiku asked, picking up a piece of broccolini with her chopsticks.  
“Hm? What do you mean?” Takeru asked, looking over at his friend with confusion.  
“You were sleeping with your duel disk.” She laughed awkwardly, “It seems a bit like a strange thing to do.”  
“Oh, that?” Takeru laughed lightheartedly, “It’s nothing.”

“Well, if you say so.” Kiku scratched her cheek.  
“Hmmm… speaking of which…” Takeru paused, then continued, “I’m sorry.”  
“Huh…? An apology out of nowhere?”  
“For all those years that I worried you.” Takeru nibbled on a carrot stick from his lunch, “You always looked out for me, even though I refused to do anything for all of those years. I was no more than a burden to you, but you were there for me.”  
Kiku kept quiet, listening to her friend carefully, “All those years, you asked if I was okay, and you made sure I was doing alright, but I never did the same for you. You’re a really great friend for sticking by me all that time. Thank you.”

“It’s… It’s okay. I was just doing what any good friend would do.” Kiku responded, trying to keep her words humble and deal with the sudden rush of emotions Takeru’s apology created within her. It made her feel appreciated, but it also brought forth the anguish she felt seeing her best friend being so emotionally absent.  
“I guess this is long overdue, but…” Takeru smiled at her, “How are you doing?”  
“I’m doing fine.” Kiku answered, fighting her emotions, forcing them not to come forth and make themselves known, “Thank you for… for…”  
“Kiku?” Takeru asked, concerned.

Kiku suddenly burst out into tears, and began crying and screaming, “It was really hard seeing you suffer all those years!!!” She wept, “I was so worried. I really wanted to do something to help you! But I couldn’t do anything!”  
“Kiku…”  
“Then one day, you ran off to the big city out of nowhere!” She sobbed, “And when you came back, you were all better again! I couldn’t do anything, but whoever you met there could!” tears rolled down her cheeks, “It was so hard! Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to see that you’re better, but I clearly wasn’t good enough of a friend to help you!”

Takeru put his chopsticks down on top of his lunch box and wrapped his arms around Kiku.  
“No, you were an amazing friend.” He assured her, “You kept all of this bottled up for my sake, didn’t you? You didn’t have to, but I’m happy that you think that I am worth suffering over.”  
“Takeru, I’m so glad that you’re back to normal…” Kiku sniffled.  
“Everything is going to be okay, Kiku.” Takeru told her, wiping away her tears, “I really wish I realised how much you were going through for my sake. Maybe I can’t do anything about the past, but maybe I can do better going forward.” He paused, then whispered something under his breath, “Perhaps _**he’ll**_ let you join us… I’ll have to ask.”

That night, when she went to bed and had just turned her light off, Kiku heard a sweet lullaby...


	11. Games before bed

Shoichi was a bit worried.

He was sure that Jin was trying to sneakily listen to music before bed a few nights ago, but Jin had not listened to music once on any following night. Was he now using headphones? Probably, he had decided.

But then again, that wasn’t the only thing that Shoichi had questions about. Yesterday, at Cafe Nagi when the girls visited, Jin had neglected to tell Kusanagi where he knew Miyu from. Jin had been acting a bit more secretive lately, but he also appeared more joyful.

Shoichi didn’t want to be an overprotective older brother, and neither did he desire to be confrontational with Jin. But then again, he wanted to know if something was up with Jin. Was Jin feeling okay? Was he acting secretive because something was wrong? Why wouldn’t Jin trust him?

These burning questions that were in Shoichi’s mind were exactly why he found himself out the front of his brother’s room at night, considering whether talking to Jin about his behaviour was a good idea or not. Should he knock and enter? Or should he just turn around and go to bed himself?

Shoichi, with a rush of confidence shooting through him, knocked on the door.  
“Jin?” He asked, waiting for Jin to respond to the knock, “Can we please talk?”  
No response came from Jin’s room.  
“Jin? Is everything okay in there?” He asked a bit louder. There was no way that Jin couldn’t hear him. And if Jin was asleep, he would certainly have woken up after hearing Shoichi knocking.

“Jin, if you aren’t going to answer, I’m going to open the door.” He stated firmly. Sometimes he felt more like a parent than an older brother with the way he had to treat Jin sometimes.  
Unfortunately, Shoichi’s statement did not elicit any response from within Jin’s room. With a deep sigh, Shoichi opened Jin’s door.

Jin was in his room, lying on his bed, exactly where he should be. However, upon entering the room and walking closer to his brother, Shoichi could see that his brother’s eyes were shut. Jin appeared to be sleeping, even though the knocking before should have woken him up.

Almost completely sure that his brother was playing possum, Shoichi gave his shoulder a shake.  
“Come on Jin, I really want to talk. I’m not mad or anything.”  
Jin stayed still. Shoichi shook his head in disapproval.  
“This isn’t funny, Jin. I really worry about you sometimes and this doesn’t help.”  
Jin still didn’t move. Shoichi held his breath. Surely there was nothing wrong with his brother? He looked up and down his brother, wondering if he might find some indication that he was pretending to sleep.

That’s when Shoichi saw it. Jin was wearing his duel disk, and on the duel disk was a small, yellow light, flashing at regular intervals. Shoichi felt his stomach sink. He knew the reasonable explanation for this was that his brother had decided to play some games at bed time, but the part of Shoichi that had to watch his brother’s consciousness be snatched right before his very eyes told him that this was all too wrong. Something terrible was happening.

In a full blown panic, Shoichi ran out of Jin’s room, tracked down a peer to peer duel disk cable and his own duel disk, and went back into Jin’s room as fast as he could. He needed to know if his brother was safe. He didn’t care if he was being overprotective. He just didn’t want to lose Jin again, ever.

With shaky hands and fast movements, Shoichi put his disk on, plugged the cable into Jin’s device and his own, entered some commands to send him straight to Jin’s location using the connection between their disks, and exclaimed “INTO THE VRAINS!”


	12. Online at night

Miyu was staying over at Aoi’s apartment again for a sleepover. And just like everything usually was on a typical day in the Zaizen house, Akira was home late and the girls were having fun playing games. However, to Akira, the atmosphere felt different to the last time Miyu stayed over.

While the girls were playing games and giggling away, they weren’t talking as much as they were on previous occasions. It wasn’t an awkward silence they had, or even one filled with contempt or frustration. No, their quietness seemed to stem from an understanding of each other that Akira felt he didn’t quite know what to think of.

The way that they would look at each other made it seem as if they were exchanging thoughts through body language alone. Although they had usually acted freely around each other, they somehow managed to seem even more at ease when interacting with one another. At dinner, when they would usually talk to Akira about what they did that day and what they were planning on doing next, they were instead quietly eating, not saying anything at all unless Akira asked questions. At the conclusion of their meal, they let Akira know that they intended to go straight to bed, rather than telling him that they’d watch some TV or duel a few more times like they usually did.

Akira knew it was not his place to ask about why they were acting so different today. He wanted to help his sister get along with her friend as best as he could without getting in the way. If they wanted to sleep, that was their choice. Miyu almost felt like a little sister to him at this point too, so he didn’t want to ruin that relationship by acting firm when it really wasn’t necessary.

About an hour after they had gone to bed Akira had walked past their bedroom, about to head to bed himself. He paused by their door, however, noticing something strange about it. There was a faint glow coming from under the door, which Akira identified as moonlight. It had seemed that his sister and her friend were in such a rush to get to bed that they had forgotten to close the curtains. With a sigh and an amused smile, Akira pushed open the door and quietly walked into the room.

As he walked past the girls, he noticed that they were sleeping on the same bed, resting with their foreheads touching, rather than Aoi sleeping on her bed and Miyu sleeping on the makeshift one at the end of her bed. He shrugged it off. Girls these days did this a lot, he figured, and then he made his way over to the window and closed the curtains.

The darkness that now filled the room revealed two small, flashing yellow lights coming from the wrists of the girls on the bed. This caught Akira’s attention. As the CEO of SOL, he knew exactly what this meant. The girls were both logged into Vrains. He shook his head. They weren’t sleeping at all, they were up to something in the network. He made a mental note to have a firm talk with Aoi in the morning when Miyu left, and made his way out of the room.

Something didn’t sit right with Akira though, as he sat on the end of his bed staring out into the empty hallway through his open door. Something just didn’t feel right. Although, he couldn’t figure out what exactly it was. He couldn’t rationalise why the girls being logged in scared him so much. But he just felt that he had to make sure they were okay…

He picked up his phone from his dressing table and dialled Hayami’s number, hoping that she was still at work. To his luck, she was, and she was ready to help him with whatever he needed like always. Akira requested that she tell him where Miyu and Aoi were in the network. Akira was on the phone with Hayami for half an hour, and at the end of it he had to hang up with no information on their location. SOL simply couldn’t find them. Akira’s fears had come true. Something had happened to the girls.

Akira needed to find them immediately. If SOL couldn’t find them remotely, then his only option was to find them the old fashioned way, using a direct cable connection to either one of their duel disks. Strapping his own duel disk onto his wrist, he took a deep breath and prepared himself to discover what may have happened to the girls. He grabbed a cable from his study, plugging it into his duel disk. He rushed down the hallway and sat on the edge of Aoi’s bed, plugging the other end of the cable into her duel disk. Taking a deep breath to prepare himself for this unknown danger, Akira whispered “INTO THE VRAINS.”


	13. The plan

“We’re no actually following Ryoken and Specter’s order to not investigate what they’re up to, right?” Genome asked out of nowhere, taking a sip from his soda can. It was about fifteen minutes after the two had gone to bed and their strange behaviour was almost the only thing on the minds of the three older knights.  
“I would say yes,” Aso began, “But we didn’t achieve anything last night. What makes tonight different?”  
“You mean to tell me that you haven’t been thinking of solutions today to the problem of finding them?” Genome asked, “Are you really that uninterested?”  
“I think we all want to know.” Kyoko chimed in, “It’s just… hard to say no to Ryoken.”

“I get it, you guys are a lot closer to him than I am.” Genome admitted, “But wouldn’t that make you want to know even more? I would be more than worried for him if I were you.”  
“That is fair.” Aso sighed, “So, if you’ve been thinking about it all day, what solution did you come up with?”  
“Our problem is that we were searching the network for them. A better solution would be spawning in the network beside them by accessing the network through their duel disk.” He explained.

“So, creating a direct connection with a peer to peer cable?” Kyoko nodded to indicate that she understood his plan, “That might actually work. They’re already ‘asleep’, so we can probably do that right now, too.”  
“You and Aso should grab your duel disks and a cable each. I’ll keep an eye on you guys from here.”  
“Thanks.” Kyoko said, standing up. Aso got up too and they both promptly left the room.

Genome took a big gulp of his soda. He felt was going to need a lot of sugar to fuel his DNA to get through this.


	14. The truth

“What on earth is going on here…” Shoichi asked with eyes wide, drinking in the sight before him.  
“I was going to ask the same thing…” Akira said, walking up to Shoichi’s side. Neither of them looked at each other. They were too shocked by what was happening right in front of them. They were shortly joined by two adults, a man and a woman, clad in white, who shared their confusion.  
“What on earth…” Kyoko trailed off.  
“Welcome.” The man before them greeted them, expression soft.  
“None of this makes sense.” Shoichi mumbled.  
“Which part of this has you surprised?” The man asked with a chuckle, “The fact that I’m here? Or the fact that they’re here?”

Before the adults who had just logged in was truly a mystifying sight.  
They appeared to be in a cottage of some sort, with dim lighting and welcoming floral wallpaper. The floor consisted of polished wood planks, and the ceiling was supported by rough wooden beams. The air was cool, but warmth radiated from a section of the floor that had been covered in quilts and duvets. Pillows and plushies had been stacked messily on top, and upon the many soft items and surfaces lay people.

Like angels in heaven resting on white fluffy clouds, the people lay scattered around the fluffy fabric. Their eyes were shut as they slept. Some of them were intertwined with one another, others seemed to hold a preference to clinging onto a stuffed animal as they slept. Utter tranquility radiated from their contented expressions as they breathed gently.

But who were these people? None other than Jin, Ryoken, Specter, Takeru, Kiku, Aoi and Miyu, all in their real world forms rather than their avatars. And to top it all off, Yusaku was there too, sleeping peacefully amongst them.

Sitting in the middle of it all was the man, with Yusaku’s head resting on his lap. Jin was by the man’s side, cuddling a large stuffed bunny while the man stroked his hair gently. Takeru, Specter and Ryoken all seemed to be tangled with each other in a way that just seemed like they had all fell down in a similar place by accident, and they were also close to the man’s side. One of Yusaku’s hands were reaching out to the three of them, and seemed to have been able to reach Ryoken as it held onto his hand. A little further away from the man was Aoi and Miyu, who were both hugging their own stuffed toys as they slept, shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip. Kiku was close to them, her head resting on a pillow as she gripped the duvet beneath her weakly.

Aso was the first one to speak up, “How are you alive, Ai?”  
“I’m not even sure myself.” The man, or rather Ai, giggled, “I just sort of reappeared after Yusaku defeated me.”  
“And I’m guessing this is your doing.” Akira said, still drinking in the perplexing sight before him.  
“Yes, it is.” He smiled gently, looking down at Yusaku and giving his head a pat.  
“And where is this place, exactly?” Kyoko asked, looking around at the room they were in.  
“This is my part of the network. It’s a little cottage in a world that I have taken steps to keep invisible from the public network, hackers and SOL. Isn’t it charming?” He asked with a smile, “It’s quiet here, but it isn’t lonely.”

“If it’s invisible from everyone, how did they get here?” Aso asked.  
“I invited them here.”  
“Hold on.” Kyoko began, “Ryoken and Specter are more cautious than to just accept an invitation from someone like you.”  
Aso bowed his head in agreement, “Indeed. They would have run it by us first, too.”  
“I know.” Ai nodded, “And that’s why I lured them here first.”

“Lured?” Akira glared, “Did you lure all of them here? And how?”  
“My, you’re all full of questions.” Ai chuckled, “I played them a lovely song and they simply came to me.”  
“The lullaby…” Kyoko’s eyes went wide.  
“You heard it too...?!” Shoichi exclaimed.  
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Ai, but I don’t like the idea of you tricking these people.” Akira shook his head in disapproval, “What is the point of all of this?”

“They might not have come here for the first time of their own accord, but every other time after that they have.” Ai began, “I’m doing this for them.”  
“And what exactly is ‘this’?” Shoichi asked uneasily.  
“I’m just giving them a place where they can rest, a place where they can forget their worries, a place where they can connect with each other…”

“Wake them up, Ai.” Shoichi ordered in a stern tone.  
Ai gave him a sad frown, “Why, though? They’re resting peacefully.”  
“I don’t like this.” Shoichi answered.  
“Same here.” Kyoko agreed, “This is very suspicious.”  
Ai sighed, “Is waking them up really what it’s going to take to get you to understand that I’m not doing anything wrong?”  
“It may take more than that.” Aso narrowed his glare.  
“Fine… I’ll wake one of them up now.”

With a reluctant huff, Ai reached over to Ryoken and placed his hand on his forehead, making sure to not let Yusaku slip off his lap. As he put his hand down, it began to glow purple, and a pulse of purple light swept over Ryoken’s figure. Ai retracted his hand, and watched as Ryoken let his eyes slide open slowly.

“Ryoken!” Kyoko exclaimed, running over and onto the section of room covered in fabric, and kneeling down beside him, “Are you okay…?! Has Ai done anything to you…?!”  
Ryoken blinked a few times before he realised what was happening, “Kyoko…?” He asked sleepily.  
“Yes, I’m here.” She assured him, grabbing hold of one of his hands and squeezing it.

“It seems that we have a party of uninvited guests.” Ai explained to Ryoken. Ryoken sat up carefully, untangling himself from Specter and Takeru, and letting go of Yusaku’s hand.  
“So it seems.” He agreed, looking at Kyoko, then over to the other intruders.  
“They don’t understand.” Ai added.  
“I noticed.” Ryoken sighed, “They’re all glaring at you, Ai.”

“Ai…?” Kyoko turned to Ai, her eyes promising him a painful death, “Ryoken doesn’t call you Ai. He calls you dark Ingis.”  
“Relax, Kyoko.” Ryoken cooed, placing his hand on her shoulder as if to stop her from lunging at Ai, “I assure you there isn’t anything to be worried about.”  
“With all due respect, Ryoken…” She began, “You were lured here by the dark Ignis, who should be dead, and he had used a program to put you to sleep. There is a lot to be worried about.”

“Your fears are only based upon misunderstanding.” Ai said, holding his hand out to Ryoken. Ryoken took his hand off of Kyoko’s shoulder and took Ai’s hand, letting himself be pulled over towards the ignis, “You don’t even know what the programs I have used on them do.”  
“Then enlighten us.” Aso interjected.  
Ai nodded, “I would be only too happy to do so.”

Ai clicked his fingers and strips of white fabric reached down from the roof beams and wrapped themselves around the intruders. A srtip of fabric pulled Kyoko off of the duvets and blankets, and back to Aso’s side. Bound in place, each member of the intruding party struggled, but couldn’t find a way to break free.

“What is the meaning of this!?” Akira exclaimed.  
“My priority here is the wellbeing of these people who are sleeping here.” Ai replied, “I don’t want you to make any bad decisions while I’m explaining everything. This is just a precaution.”  
“Then hurry up and explain!” Kyoko hissed.


	15. The allure of sleep

_Ryoken opened his eyes, looking at his surroundings with little more than curiosity. He didn’t feel alarmed to find himself in an old fashioned looking cottage, in a pile of warm blankets and soft pillows, but he did feel a slight bit confused._

_“What…” He managed to whisper quietly, before a finger pressed itself onto his lips to hush him.  
“Hello, Ryoken. Long time, no see.” Ai greeted, combing Ryoken’s hair with his hand. Ryoken was surprised to see the dark Ignis, but didn’t have enough energy to let his surprise spring forth in any noticeable way. Ryoken knew that Yusaku had defeated Ai, and yet, kneeling right next to him was his human form and…_

_Ryoken shook his head to dismiss the thought. He felt a little too drowsy to think about that right now. Ryoken attempted to sit up so that he could talk to Ai, but Ai motioned for him to stay lying down._  
_“Just relax. You’re the last person who I have invited to stay here tonight.”_  
_ “Last person…? Invited…?” Ryoken breathed._  
_ “Jin and Yusaku are here too.” Ai smiled a gentle smile that Ryoken had never seen on his face before, “See?” Ai gestured to a figure that lay beside him. Ryoken turned his head to get a better look at them._

_“Yusaku…?” He whispered, looking into the green eyes of the figure beside him._  
_Yusaku nodded, “It has been a while.” Yusaku looked just as sleepy as Ryoken felt._  
_ “What are you doing here…?”_  
_ “When I finally found Ai, he was making this place.” Yusaku smiled a soft smile._  
_ “I see…” Ryoken trailed off, looking back over to Ai, who had gotten up at some point during his conversation with Yusaku and fetched Jin from another part of the blanket covered space._

_Ai was holding Jin’s hand and walking him over, before carefully setting Jin down on the other side of Yusaku. Jin, who also appeared to be very sleepy, instinctually took Yusaku’s hand into his own and let his shoulder touch Yusaku’s. Yusaku didn’t seem to be bothered by the contact at all. Ai then picked Ryoken up a little and made it so that Ryoken’s shoulder was also touching Yusaku’s. Usually this would have sparked massive discomfort in Ryoken, but he found that he really didn’t mind being so close to somebody else._

_Ai then lifted Yusaku’s head and sat so that it rested on his lap, and gave it a small pat.  
“It’s time to sleep.” Ai whispered. He placed his hand on top of Yusaku’s head and it began to glow purple. A pulse of light flashed over Yusaku in the form of a wave, and just like that, his eyes shut and he was fast asleep._

_“Your turn, Ryoken. Goodnight.” He purred, placing his hand over Ryoken’s head. Ai’s hand glowed a soft purple as he applied the program to Ryoken. With a small smile on his face, Ryoken fell asleep immediately._

_His memories did not stop there though. Although his eyes were closed and he was unconscious, he could still feel, sense and remember things. Despite not being able to see Yusaku by his side, he could feel his warm presence. However, there was something more there that Ryoken could feel._

_It was like a connection of sorts, like Ryoken could feel the state of Yusaku’s heart and see into Yusaku’s mind. Ryoken reached out to Yusaku with his own mind, wanting to be closer to the warmth he could feel. Yusaku returned his action, taking the hands of Ryoken’s mind into his own and allowing Ryoken to be close._

_It wasn’t long before both Ryoken and Yusaku could feel another presence beside them. Jin was there too, just as warm as they were. Both of them reached out to Jin, bringing him over to them and embracing his heart as they had done with each others’. Even if their bodies in the network or real world hadn’t moved an inch, they felt as though they were as close to each other as they had ever been._

_The night was a peaceful and restful one for all three of them. Ryoken, who hardly ever got a good night’s sleep, was especially happy when morning came and Ai woke them up. He felt the most well rested he had in years, and he had never felt better. Jin was absolutely infatuated with how close he felt to them, mentioning that he hadn’t felt very close to anybody before since he felt so closed off from everybody for the ten years he spent in the hospital. Yusaku simply seemed happy to see Ryoken again, and he was glad to see that Jin was recovering well._

_Jin, who knew his brother would be making breakfast soon, said his goodbyes to Ryoken and Yusaku, thanked Ai, and logged out of the network. Upon Jin’s departure, Ai spent some time explaining things to Ryoken._

_Ai was adamant that his little cottage should stay a secret. He asked Ryoken to not tell anybody about it, and of course Ryoken agreed. After all, where was the harm in what Ai was doing? If anything, what Ai had done had really helped him and Jin out. Ryoken was also ecstatic when Ai told him to visit again that night, and upon hearing that Ai would invite more people, he felt himself looking forward to it more and more._

_At the end of Ai explaining everything to Ryoken, it was time for him to log out. Yusaku and Ai waved goodbye to him as he did. As he opened his eyes and saw the ceiling of his room in the boat, Ryoken let out a relaxed sigh and got out of bed._


	16. A farewell is not forever

“... and that’s what happened on my first night here.” Ryoken concluded, letting Ai pat his head fondly, “It’s not as bad as you might think it is.”  
All the intruders could do was stare straight at Ai with looks of uneasiness. They were speechless.  
“Thank you for your anecdote.” Ai smiled, “Shall I let you get back to sleep now?”  
“Yes, please.” Ryoken nodded, closing his eyes. Ai placed his hand on Ryoken’s forehead, and let his hand glow purple, putting the boy to sleep.  
“Why are you doing all of this, Ai?” Shoichi asked, “What do you get from it?”

Ai sighed, “Some things happened during my duel with Yusaku.” He paused, then continued, “He said some things that I have taken to heart. For example, I asked to fuse with him-”  
“You what?!” Shoichi asked, shocked.  
“Please, save your reactions for later. I asked to fuse with him, but he declined. He told me that if we were to fuse, we wouldn’t be ourselves anymore. He told me that life has no solutions, and that I was just looking for an easy answer. We just have to keep making bonds with each other. If you have bonds, nobody will forget you when you pass.

“So isn’t it good to foster bonds between people? If bonds heal pain, then why not take those who have been damaged by our fight and help them heal?” Ai asked with a sorrowful look in his eyes, “I care about these people, you know. I don’t want them to pass on one day and be forgotten. If I can give them bonds, then I will do so.”  
“Why do you ‘care’?” Kyoko asked in an accusatory tone.  
“Because my name…” Ai took a deep breath, “I asked Yusaku in my final moments what he thought my name might mean, even if he did lazily come up with it. He told me that he thought it meant ‘to love people’.” Ai lovingly gave Yusaku’s hair a stroke, “I wholeheartedly agree with him. I do love people. I want to protect them.

“So when Takeru came to me the other night, telling me that his friend Kiku had been suffering for his sake all of the years he had spent not doing anything with his life, I invited her here immediately.” Ai gestured in her direction, “She was hurt and I wanted to help her. I don’t like seeing anybody get hurt. My little group of people that I have here will grow in time. I’ll protect more people.”

“Ai, you’re tampering with their minds.” Akira pointed out.  
“I’m not.” He rebutted, “I’m simply letting them bond. I am not altering their minds in any way.”  
“Even so, this isn’t natural. You shouldn’t be doing this.”  
“Ah, of course. But unlike that, logging into a virtual world is _**perfectly**_ natural, and replacing most of the workforce with androids about as natural as the wind.” Ai scoffed, “Whether something is natural or not only matters to you when it is convenient.”  
“Tch…” Akira intensified his glare.

“These people will be fine. They’ll wake up in the morning, just like normal, and get on with their lives like usual. They’ll come back at night when it won’t disturb them or anybody else. I don’t know what has you so worked up. They’re still the people you know and love. I’m not using them for anything. Please, just explain to me clearly, what is your problem with what I am doing?” Ai asked, running out of patience.

“Tying up my comrades and these other ‘intruders’ is a good start.” A voice came from the corner of the room.  
“Genome!” Kyoko said.  
“I’ve written a program that logs all of the people you have lured here out, along with us intruders.” Genome explained, stepping out of the corner. He held his hand out, and in the palm of his hand appeared a ball of green glowing data.  
“What!?” Ai exclaimed.  
“Say goodbye to everyone here, Ai.” Genome said, activating the program. Every person in the room, except Ai, started glowing the same shade of green as Genome’s program, and the glow got brighter with each passing second.

In a panic, Ai held onto Yusaku and began altering Genome’s program on his avatar to render it useless, preventing it from logging him out. Every figure in the room burst up into a storm of green particles before disappearing, leaving Ai all alone in the middle of the room, with the exception of Yusaku in his lap.

Ai stared out into the empty room, eyes wide. Everybody had been taken away from him. It took a moment for him to compose himself, and assure himself that everything was going to be okay.  
“I’m a good partner. I wouldn’t let them take you, Yusaku.” Ai smiled shakily, talking to his unconscious origin, “I know you miss the others, but it’s okay. They’ll all find their way back here soon. They’ll want to be with us.”


End file.
